As it is known by the experts in the matter, this is the harvest of the cotton or the plume from the rest of the plant or stub, formed by the stem, branches and the radicular portion. Having a solid consistency, the stub with its radicular portion is firmly buried within the soil due to the entanglement formed by the roots with earth and stones particles, which was developed during the plant growth.
It is also known that the legislations in force both in the Federal level and in the State level as well, rule that the stub should be fully pulled off after the cotton harvest and within a very short period to avoid the re-sprouting and the propagation of insect plagues such as the “Bicudo” (Anthonomous Gradis), besides requiring the full pulling-off of the stub from the soil, in which said stub should be completely fragmented in pre-set sizes, otherwise, the floral structure (capsules) could present eggs or the insect itself, larger stub particles could generate an opportunistic germination, a formation of nematodes or fungi in the fragmented radicular system, whether it is buried or not.
The current method used for the destruction of the stubs basically involves three operations, the first one being performed by a cropper provided with blades and blades and vertical axle or horizontal rotating rollers with blades; the second operation is performed by means of a plough intended to pull out the remains with the roots and the third one consists of using a large leveling machine or equivalent apparel to level the soil for the next plantation. This methodology presents several drawbacks among which we point out the following:
Upon the land clearing, since the cut size is not accurate, an entanglement of residue of different sizes remains in the soil which in its turn makes the next step of plowing, harrowing and subsequently, planting harder;
Upon plowing the soil to pull off the remains of the plants with their roots, part of the tree paths are not pulled off and they sprout again, facilitating the propagation of plagues and other nuisances;
The cost of this methodology is very high since distinct operations are performed with the occupation of machinery and labor, and it is not very efficient;
As a supplementary technology for the plagues control, the application of chemical pesticides is always performed based on the plagues sampling by means of control files, then the products Diflubenzuron and Endosulfan are applied diluted at 12% to fight the caterpillar and Endosulfan at 10% to fight the Bicudo insect, and these are forbidden techniques, since they contaminate the groundwater.